Project: SQL Server R2 SP2 CU 2 upgrade to SQL R2 SP2 CU5
Risk Register Worksheet – Risk Response Plan
Risk Identification & Analysis Risk ID
Identified Project Risk:
Upgrade fails
P
I
R
Risk Category
10%
7
0.7
Upgrade
Risk Ranking based on Risk Ranking Matrix (High, Moderate, Low): Low
Trigger:
1) Upgrade progress takes unusually slow
2) Upgrade progress is not responding
3) GBSSQL3 fails to upgrade
4) The upgrade gives an error message.
Description of Identified Risk: 1) Error message during the upgrade 2) SQL server stops working after
the upgrade 3) The upgrade process cannot detect any SQL instance
Root Cause:
1) Permission issue
2) Using the incorrect upgrade sequence
3) Use the incorrect patches
4) Database is still in used
5) Fail to allocate all the resources to the passive server and the checking procedure returns with a local
computer cluster warning message.
Assumptions/Basis: The upgrade will take no less than an hours and users will not experience downtime
during the failover.
Risk Response Planning
Strategy Chosen (Type X over the correct box below.)
Opportunity: Exploit 
Share 
Enhance 
Threat: Avoid 
Transfer 
Mitigate (X)
Abandon 
Accept 
Description:
(1) Perform the upgrade in a test environment first
(2) Preform pre-upgrade check on both servers
(3) Test and make sure GBSSQL3 is working before perform the upgrade on GBSSQL2
Upgrade fail scenario:
a) If GBSSQL3 fails to upgrade before the failover, there is no impact to the end users because
GBSSQL2 is our active server and GBSSQL2 is handling all the data connections. We will have
to do a RCA on GBSSQL3 before moving forward with the rest of the upgrade.
b) If GBSSQL2 fails to upgrade after the failover, there is no impact to the end users because we
will failover the service to GBSSQL3 before performing the upgrade on GBSSQL2.
c) If the upgrade on GBSSQL3 is a success but none of the services can connect to the SQL server
after the failover, we now have a prolonged downtime
Checklist: (1) ensure GBSSQL3 is part of the cluster service (2) check GBSSQL3 to be the
owner of all the SQL services (3) Shut down GBSSQL2 to prevent the problem from spreading
(4) Restart GBSSQL3 to test the connection (5) Check the event logs (6) Start to restore
GBSSQL3 and all the databases
Trigger Measure to be Monitored, and Source:
1) Error message during the file check
2) Upgrade progress bar.
3) Event Viewer
4) Error message during the upgrade
Threshold Condition: The upgrade on GBSSQL3 has failed. It will automatically trigger the risk
response.
Potential Secondary Risks (risks arising from implementing this plan):
Residual Risk (Estimated remaining P, I, and RS after risk response is implemented): Some features
/functions may not compatible with the upgrade
Preparatory Plan: Actions to take prior to risk materializing
Plan Description
Who
Performs*
Impact **
Date Due
Upgrade SQL test server to SQL 2008 R2 SP2 CU5
Nathaniel
None
5/3
Pre-upgrade check on GBSSQL3
Nathaniel
None
5/9
Pre-upgrade check on GBSSQL2
Nathaniel
None
5/9
Contingency Plan: Actions if the risk is triggered
Plan Description
Who
Performs*
Impact
Restore all SQL databases from the backup (Scenario C)
Nathaniel
Downtime
Restore GBSSQL3 from the backup (Scenario C)
Tim
Downtime
RCA before moving forward (Scenario A and B)
Tim, Nathaniel
None
Risk Owner: Nathaniel
Terms of Probability
Very unlikely
Somewhat unlikely
50-50 possibility
Somewhat likely
Very likely
Values
10%
30%
50%
75%
90%
Terms of Impact
Very low
Somewhat low
Moderate
Somewhat high
Very high
Values
1
3
5
7
9